Posts Tagged ‘industry’


Expert wants free debt advice for all

Saturday, January 8th, 2011

Getting debt advice has become more and more difficult of late, and for the past couple of years the demand for such surfaces has become huge as an increasing number of people have found themselves struggling with their finances. For many this has meant that they can no longer make ends meet in terms of their finances, and it has become necessary for them to seek advice to try and get their debts and finances sorted.

However, because of the number of people that are currently trying to get advice from debt charities and the like the waiting times for appointments to see a debt expert have rocketed. This has resulted in people having to wait for huge lengths of time to get the advice that they need, and for this reason many may end up going to a debt advice counsellor that charges.

One industry expert has now said that it should be everyone’s right to be able to access timely free debt advice rather than having to pay, adding that this advice should be extended to those that have overspent on their savings as well as those that are struggling with debts such as credit cards, loans, and other types of debt. She expressed concern that many people were not getting access to debt advice for free, and for some people this could mean that they are not able to get the advice that they need and their debt problems could end up getting worse.

Personal debt levels have been rocketing since the onset of the global financial crisis, and many people have discovered that their finances are severely overstretched. This said, The Insolvency Service has said that the number of personal insolvencies has started to fall, although the number of pensioners that are becoming bankrupt has been rising according to the figures.

Tags: past couple, industry, Personal debt levels, timely free debt, reason, Human Interest, loans

OFT deals with rogue debt advisors

Monday, November 29th, 2010

The OFT is said to be cracking down on so called rogue debt advisors, and according to reports at least five of the companies that are said to be involved in this face having their operating licences revoked by the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT has been cracking down on companies that are said to be involved in misleading advertising, hidden costs, and offering poor advice to the many desperate consumers that are anxious to sort their financial problems out.

It is thought that the OFT is also set to crack down on firms that cold call consumers to try and get them to take out a debt management plan or similar financial service, and then sell their details on as leads to debt advice companies. The watchdog is said to be planning a blitz on such firms in the New Year, and plans to come down hard on firms that are seen to be rogue traders in the financial services industry. Debt advice companies that take leads from cold calling firms based abroad will also be at the receiving end of the OFT’s wrath if they are caught out.

According to reports there are eight hundred firms in the UK that have licences to offer debt advice, and earlier this year the OFT wrote to 129 of them to express concern over their working practices. In 50 percent of these cases the problems outlined by the OFT were said to be minor ones. However, in a small percentage of the cases the issues outlined were said to be extremely serious.

Some of the problems that have been highlighted include failure of companies to review customer files, employment of untrained advisors who cannot offer sound advice and information, and advising customers that a service is free when it is not.

Tags: watchdog, industry, company, advice, New Year, similar financial service, offer

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